Admissions Requirements

Admissions Requirements

The City Colleges of Chicago are open admission colleges. Everyone is welcome!

Admissions Requirements

The City Colleges of Chicago are open admission colleges. Everyone is welcome. All students are required to take the District assessment and placement tests unless a waiver is granted. Waivers may be granted to qualifying transfer students and students with recent and sufficiently high ACT test scores. Incoming students who have earned a grade of “C” or better in college level English or math courses from a regionally accredited institution (see www.chea.org) are exempt from being tested, provided official transcripts (printed or electronic) are submitted verifying successful completion of courses. (See Testing & Placement Guidelines for more information regarding testing.) Students who are admitted to college credit programs include:

Graduates of accredited high schools or foreign equivalents

GED® completers

Transfer students from other colleges or universities

Adult students 18 years of age or older who have not earned a high school diploma or a GED® (the placement exam will be used to determine course placement)

Students 16-18 years of age, recommended by their principal or accepted for participation in a special area of study, who score at college-level on the placement exam

Students who successfully completed high school through home-schooling

International Students

City Colleges of Chicago serves international students in the following non-immigrant visa classes who live or work in the City of Chicago:

A-1, A-2 – foreign government officials and dependents

B-1, B-2 – visitor for business or pleasure

E-1, E-2 – treaty traders/investors and dependents

F-1 – academic student

G-1, G-2 – representatives to international organizations and dependents

H-1B, H-1C, H-4 – temporary workers and dependents

J-1, J-2 – exchange visitors and dependents

K-1, K-2 – fiancé(e)s and spouses of US citizens and dependents

L-1, L-2 – intra-company transferees and dependents

O-1, O-2 – workers with extraordinary abilities and dependents

P-1, P-2 – artists, athletes and entertainers and dependents

Q-1, Q-2 – international cultural exchange visitors and dependents

R-1, R-2 – religious workers and dependents

S-1, S2 – witnesses/informants and dependents

T-1, T-2 – alien victims of human trafficking and dependents

U-1 U-2 – alien victims of certain crimes and dependents

V-1, V-2 – certain second preference beneficiaries and dependents

Residency Verification - New Students

New students must submit at least one of the preferred documents listed below at the time of first enrollment or upon a change in academic career, and may be asked to verify residency more than once depending upon the length of his/her enrollment. Note: document(s) submitted as proof of residency may be subject to further verification.

Residency Verification - Independent Students

Independent students must verify residency by presenting at least one of the preferred documents listed below:

Driver’s license

Voter registration card

Copy of lease or mortgage statement

Utility (water, electric, gas, or home telephone) bill

State of Illinois identification card

Mexican Consular ID card

Current orders or a letter from Command for military service persons

Signed letter on letterhead from a homeless shelter confirming residency in the shelter

Residency Verification - Dependent Students

Dependent students are those who do not meet the definition of an independent student, above. Dependent students must verify residency by presenting the above (Independent Students) documents and/or the following document(s) in the parent’s name at the student’s address:

​Other Resources

City Colleges of Chicago does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age or disability in all educational
and vocational programs, services, activities, and employment. EEO Office